
Reuters: IAEA says Iran carried out nuclear activities at undeclared sites
Reuters news agency says the United Nations nuclear watchdog found traces of nuclear activities at undeclared locations in Iran. The findings could affect ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and the United States.
Reuters reported on Saturday that the International Atomic Energy Agency compiled a comprehensive report on Iran's nuclear development. The IAEA is investigating nuclear materials found between 2019 and 2020 at multiple undeclared sites.
Reuters says the IAEA's report points out that Iran carried out nuclear-related activities at those sites until the early 2000s.
The Iranian foreign ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization said in a statement on Saturday that the report was "prepared for political purposes" and repeats "biased and baseless accusations."
The statement says Tehran will take countermeasures if there is any hostile move at an IAEA Board of Governors meeting scheduled to start on June 9.
Reuters also reported that the IAEA's separate report said Iran's stock of uranium enriched to 60 percent has increased to about 1.5-fold since February. That percentage far exceeds the limit set in an agreement Iran signed with world powers.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Japan Times
13 minutes ago
- Japan Times
Iran poised to dismiss U.S. nuclear proposal, Iranian diplomat says
Iran is poised to reject a U.S. proposal to end a decades-old nuclear dispute, an Iranian diplomat said on Monday, dismissing it as a "non-starter" that fails to address Tehran's interests or soften Washington's stance on uranium enrichment. "Iran is drafting a negative response to the U.S. proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the U.S. offer," the senior diplomat, who is close to Iran's negotiating team, said. The U.S. proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was on a short visit to Tehran and has been mediating talks between Tehran and Washington. After five rounds of discussions between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, several obstacles remain. Among them are Iran's rejection of a U.S. demand that it commit to scrapping uranium enrichment and its refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium — possible raw material for nuclear bombs. Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. "In this proposal, the U.S. stance on enrichment on Iranian soil remains unchanged, and there is no clear explanation regarding the lifting of sanctions," said the diplomat, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Araqchi said Tehran would formally respond to the proposal soon. The White House encouraged Iran to accept the deal. "President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb. Special Envoy Witkoff has sent a detailed and acceptable proposal to the Iranian regime, and it's in their best interest to accept it," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "Out of respect for the ongoing deal, the Administration will not comment on details of the proposal to the media." Tehran demands the immediate removal of all U.S.-imposed curbs that impair its oil-based economy. But the U.S. says nuclear-related sanctions should be removed in phases. Dozens of institutions vital to Iran's economy, including its central bank and national oil company, have been blacklisted since 2018 for, according to Washington, "supporting terrorism or weapons proliferation." Trump's revival of "maximum pressure" against Tehran since his return to the White House in January has included tightening sanctions and threatening to bomb Iran if the negotiations yield no deal. During his first term in 2018, Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with six powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond the pact's limits. Under the deal, Iran had until 2018 curbed its sensitive nuclear work in return for relief from U.S., European Union and U.N. economic sanctions. The diplomat said the assessment of "Iran's nuclear negotiations committee," under the supervision of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was that the U.S. proposal was "completely one-sided" and could not serve Tehran's interests. Therefore, the diplomat said, Tehran considers this proposal a "non-starter" and believes it unilaterally attempts to impose a "bad deal" on Iran through excessive demands. The stakes are high for both sides. Trump wants to curtail Tehran's potential to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional nuclear arms race and perhaps threaten Israel. Iran's clerical establishment, for its part, wants to be rid of the devastating sanctions. Iran says it is ready to accept some limits on enrichment, but needs watertight guarantees that Washington would not renege on a future nuclear accord. Two Iranian officials said last week that Iran could pause uranium enrichment if the U.S. released frozen Iranian funds and recognized Tehran's right to refine uranium for civilian use under a "political deal" that could lead to a broader nuclear accord. Iran's arch-foe Israel, which sees Iran's nuclear program as an existential threat, has repeatedly threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Araqchi, in a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo, said, "I do not think Israel will commit such a mistake as to attack Iran." Tehran's regional influence has meanwhile been diminished by military setbacks suffered by its forces and those of its allies in the Shiite-dominated "Axis of Resistance," which include Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iraqi militias. In April, Saudi Arabia's defense minister delivered a blunt message to Iranian officials to take Trump's offer of a new deal seriously as a way to avoid the risk of war with Israel.


Japan Today
4 hours ago
- Japan Today
Colorado attack suspect charged with federal hate crime
Law enforcement officers detain a suspect, after an attack that injured multiple people, in Boulder, Colorado, U.S. June 1, 2025, in this picture obtained from social media. X/@OpusObscuraX/via REUTERS By Patrick Wingrove and Rich McKay A Colorado man has been charged with a federal hate crime for his alleged role in a gasoline-bomb attack on a pro-Israeli rally in Boulder that injured eight people, according to an affidavit issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday. Mohamed Sabry Soliman was already facing an array of state charges, including attempted murder, after the attack on Sunday in the city of Boulder on a group seeking to draw attention to hostages seized in Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the suspect would be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law for what was described as an "antisemitic terror attack." The affidavit, seen by Reuters, said Soliman, 45, had planned the attack for more than a year. Investigators found 14 gasoline-filled Molotov cocktails near where the suspect was detained. The police also found a gasoline canister in his car parked nearby and a weed sprayer filled with gasoline at the scene. Soliman told investigators that he had learned how to make the fire bombs from YouTube. The affidavit references a video posted on social media during the attack showing Soliman "shirtless, pacing back and forth while holding what appear to be Molotov cocktails." The suspect, who was being detained in lieu of $10 million bail, according to official records, told police he "wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead," the affidavit said. The attack was the latest act of violence aimed at Jewish Americans linked to outrage over Israel's escalating military offensive in Gaza. It followed the fatal shooting of two Israel Embassy aides that took place outside Washington's Capital Jewish Museum last month. According to the complaint, Soliman lived with his wife and five children in Colorado Springs, a city about 100 miles (161 km) south of Boulder. The affidavit says that he waited until after his daughter's graduation to conduct the attack. Few other details were available about him. Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Soliman had overstayed a tourist visa and had an expired work permit. Federal documents make no reference to his nationality but the New York Times said he was Egyptian, citing the Department of Homeland Security. The departments of Homeland Security and Justice did not respond to requests for comment. The Denver office of the FBI, which is handling the case, did not immediately respond to emails or phone calls seeking details in the case. Officials from the Boulder County Jail, Boulder Police and Boulder County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to inquiries. "There are millions of individuals like this that we are attempting to locate from the past administration that weren't properly screened that were allowed in," Lyons said during a press conference in Boston. "I will tell you that's a huge effort for ICE right now." Under former President Joe Biden, ICE prioritized arrests of serious criminals and called for officers to consider humanitarian factors when making arrests. Lyons declined to provide more information, but a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson previously said Soliman had entered the country in August 2022 and filed for asylum the following month. "The suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country," the spokesperson said. U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that such attacks would not be tolerated. "This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland," he said. Four women and four men between 52 and 88 years of age were transported to hospitals after the attack, Boulder police said. The attack took place on the Pearl Street Mall, a popular pedestrian shopping district near the University of Colorado, during an event organized by Run for Their Lives, an organization devoted to drawing attention to the hostages seized in the aftermath of Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel. Rabbi Yisroel Wilhelm, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told CBS Colorado that the 88-year-old victim was a Holocaust refugee who fled Europe. Sunday's attack was not the first high-profile incident of mass violence in Boulder, a university town that attracts many young professionals and outdoor enthusiasts. In 2021, a gunman fatally shot 10 people, including an off-duty police officer, in a local supermarket. © Thomson Reuters 2025.


Japan Today
4 hours ago
- Japan Today
U.S. pushes countries for best offers by Wednesday as tariff deadline looms
FILE PHOTO: Cranes at the Port of Los Angeles are empty of cargo ships as shown with a drone at in San Pedro California, U.S., May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo By Jarrett Renshaw The Trump administration wants countries to provide their best offer on trade negotiations by Wednesday as officials seek to accelerate talks with multiple partners ahead of a self-imposed deadline in just five weeks, according to a draft letter to negotiating partners seen by Reuters. The draft, from the office of the United States Trade Representative, provides a window into how President Donald Trump plans to bring to a close unwieldy negotiations with dozens of countries that kicked off on April 9 when he paused his "Liberation Day" tariffs for 90 days until July 8 after stock, bond and currency markets revolted over the sweeping nature of the levies. The document suggests an urgency within the administration to complete deals against its own tight deadline. While officials such as White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett have repeatedly promised that several agreements were nearing completion, so far only one agreement has been reached with a major U.S. trading partner: Britain. Even that limited pact was more akin to a framework for ongoing talks than a final deal. According to the draft document, the U.S. is asking countries to list their best proposals in a number of key areas, including tariff and quota offers for purchase of U.S. industrial and agricultural products and plans to remedy any non-tariff barriers. Other requested items include any commitments on digital trade and economic security, along with country-specific commitments, according to the letter. The U.S. will evaluate the responses within days and offer "a possible landing zone" that could include a reciprocal tariff rate, according to the letter. It was unclear to which specific countries the letter would be sent, but it was directed at those where negotiations were active and included meetings and exchanges of documents. Active negotiations have been under way with the European Union, Japan, Vietnam and India, among others. A USTR official said trade negotiations were ongoing. 'Productive negotiations with many key trading partners continue at a rapid pace. It is in all parties' interest to take stock of progress and assess any next steps.' Trump's ambitious - and often frenetic - tariff policy represents a major part of his "America First" economic agenda as he seeks to reshape U.S. trade relationships, reduce trade deficits and protect American industries. Republican lawmakers are also banking on tariffs to add to federal revenue and offset the cost of the tax cut legislation now working its way through Congress. The twists and turns in Trump's tariff policies have taken investors on a rollercoaster ride. In May, U.S. stocks held their biggest rally of any month since November 2023, but that was after global indexes had cratered under the barrage of Trump's tariff announcements through February, March and early April. Stocks were little changed on Monday afternoon after Trump announced a surprise doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on Friday at an event in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the legality of the approach used for imposing the most sweeping of his tariffs has been cast into doubt. Last Wednesday, the Court of International Trade ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority with tariffs devised under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, including the "Liberation Day" levies and earlier ones imposed on goods from Canada, Mexico and China related to Trump's accusations that the three countries have facilitated the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Less than 24 hours later, an appeals court temporarily paused that decision. The tariffs at the center of the legal dispute are expected to remain in effect for now while the case plays out. The draft letter to trading partners warns them not to believe the tariffs will be sidelined if the court rules against Trump's use of the IEEPA. "I should also note that regardless of ongoing litigation concerning the President's reciprocal tariff action in U.S. courts, the President intends to continue this tariff program pursuant to other robust legal authorities if necessary, so it is important that we continue our discussions on these matters," the draft says. © Thomson Reuters 2025.